Well-testing apparatus



Feb. 16, 1932. s. ROHE ET AL 1,844,979

WELL TESTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 3, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l an ucnfov Feb. 16, 1932. s. ROHE ET AL WELL TESTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 3; 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet Z Par/0h 4 z 5 j 7 m Patented Feb. is, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SIGNOE, OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGBT TEXAfi SAMUEL ROHE AND SHELAH V. PUG-E, OF MIBANDO CITY, TEXAS; SAID ROHE AS- TO LOUIS H. F. ROHE, F MIRANDO CITY,

WELL-TESTING- APPARATUS Application filea January 3, 1930. Serial No. 418,199

This invention has for its object the provision of a simple mechanism whereby a sample of an oil or gas bearing stratum may be drawn to the mouth of a well without requiring the use of special tubing or the placing of special casing within the well. The invention provides an apparatus which may be readily lowered to the hole in the bottom of the well through which the formation to be tested enters and which may be easily manipulated to withdraw a specimen of the formation. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter fully set forth. y

In the drawings Figure 1- is a vertical section of the upper portion of an apparatus embodying the invention showing the same in the closed position,

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the lower portion v of the apparatus,

Fi 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing t e sampling valve opened, and

F ig. 4 is a similar view of the lower portion of the apparatus.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates a drill tube or stem which is connected by the coupling ring 2 with a circular body 3, to the lower end of which is secured an outer working barrel 4. A central bore 5 is formed through the connecting body 3 and in the upper end of this bore is secured a valve cage 6 housing a check valve 7, while in the lower end of the bore is secured a tube 8, the lower end of which forms a seat for a ball valve 9. The ball valve 9 is disposed within a tubular head 10 and rests upon a spiral spring 11 housed within the bore of said head and retained therein by a ring nut 12, as shown. The upper end of the bore of the tubular head is contracted, as shown at 13,

whereby it forms a seat for the valve while the sample of the formation to be tested is being taken, and through the rapper portion a he head are by-passes 1-1 through which the material may flow to the space above the head, as will be presently more particularly described. The upper end of the tubular head 10 is expanded somewhat so that it fits closely but slidably within the working barrel 4 and to the head is secured an inner barrel 15 which is stationary when the ap-- paratus is in use. To the lower end of the stationary barrel 15 is threaded a coupling sleeve 16 and in the lower end of said sleeve is threaded a tube 17, in the lower end of WlllCll is fitted a check valve 18 and a strainer 19. Fitted externally on the sleeve 16' is a flange 20 and onthe lower end of the tube 17 is secured a ring or collar 21, a packer consisting of gaskets 22 alternating with metallic plates or disks 23 being fitted upon the tube between the flange and the collar, as clearly shown, and it is to be noted that the gaskets and the metallic disks or plates uniformly decrease in diameter downwardly from the flange to the collar. The external diameter of the coupling sleeve 16 is enlarged at its upper end portion to provide an annular shoulder 24, and in the upper edge of the sleeve is formed a raceway to receive bearing balls 25, a ring 26 resting upon said balls and having its upper end portion rabbeted, as shown at 27, whereby it may fit around the lower end of a collar 28 secured in the lower end of a sleeve 29 which is threaded onto the lower end of. the barrel 4. The. upper end of the sleeve 29 is formed with an internal flange 30 fitting closely to the inner barrel 15 and below said flange packing, consisting of rings 31 of rubber, leather or any other suitable material alternating with.

wedges 32, is fitted within the sleeve to bear around the inner barrel and prevent leakage in an obvious manner. Below the packing, an expansion spring 33 is provided between the collar 28 and the lowest packing element so that the necessary degree of compression will be maintained in the packing. The lower end portion of the sleeve 29 is formedwith external threads 34 which are engaged by internal threads 35 in the upper end of a sleeve 36 which extends below the shoulder 24 on the coupling sleeve 16 and is constructed with an internal shoulder 37 adapted to abut the shoulder 24, a spring 38 between the lower end of the sleeve 36 and the flange 20 serving to maintain the shoulders in contact. A key 40 inserted between and engaged with the sleeves 16 and 36 prevents relative rotation thereof.

Initially, the parts are assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the sleeve 36 being threaded onto the tube or sleeve 29 so that the outer working barrel will be in its relatively lowered position and the tube 8 will bear upon the valve 9 so that access of liquid or gas into said tube will be prevented. Thus assembled, the apparatus is lowered into the well untilthe strainer 19 enters the rathole and the packer, consisting of the gaskets22 and disks 23,enters the hole and bears on the shoulder of the same. Flow from the well, otherwise than through the tube 17 and the parts in direct communication therewith, is thereby prevented. The packer wedges in the rat hole and the sleeve 36 and the inner barrel and the. parts connected therewith will remain stationary so that if the tubing 1 be rotated the rotation will be transmitted directly to the barrel 4 and the sleeve or tube 29 which will ride out of its engagement with the tube 36 by reason of the engagement of the threads 34 and 35, so that the parts will assume the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As the barrel 4 and the attached tube or sleeve 29 rises, the tube 8 will, of course, be lifted from the valve 9 which will follow the movement under the influence of the expanding spring 11 until arrested by its engagement with the seat 13, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 3. The oil or gas will then flow around the valve through the passages 14 into the space within the barrel 4 above the head 10. Fromthis space the gas or liquid will obviously flow into and through the tube 8, opening the check valve .7 and passing up through the operating tubing 1. When a sufiicient quantity of the formation has risen to the mouth of the well to furnish a test, the tubing is lowered and rotated in the direction reverse to its previous rotation so that the parts will be returned to the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If thepressure of the well is not sufiicient to raisethe sample formation to the mouth of the well, the tubing may be reciprocated for a short while so that enough of the formation will be pumped to the mouth of the well to furnish a satisfactory sample for analysis and test. When the device is to be withdrawn from the well, the parts are locked in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and upward pulling force exerted upon the tubing 1, as will be understood, and it may be noted that if it should be necessary to pump 'tionary barrel and the packer,

the sample to the mouth of the well the shoulders presented by the flange 30 and the expanded upper portion of the head 10 will constitute stops to prevent the outer working barrel and the parts carried thereby being drawn above the inner stationary barrel and rendering the device inoperative. The lower end of the tube or sleeve 29 may abut the upper edge of the upper race ring 26 when the partsare being locked and when such abutting engagement occurs continued rotation of the outer barrel and the tube 29 will cause the race ring to rotate with the barrel and will thereby avoid such jamming of the parts as is apt to result in breakage or such deforma tion thereof as will prevent the separation of the working barrel from the lower coupling head or sleeve 36 when such separation is desired in the sampling operation.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that we have provided a very simple apparatus whereby a sample of a supposed oil or gas bearing stratum maybe easily drawn to the mouth of a well for analysis. It is not necessary to line the well nor to go to the expense of special complicated casings or tubings in order to apply the sampling apparatus to the well and operate the same. It will be understood that instead of the gaskets 31 and wedges 32, the usual packing cups or other forms of packing may be em" ployed.

The device may be lowered into the hole in unlocked condition, in which event the string of pipe will be full of fluid when the device is seated and all testing will have to be done by pumping. The device may be inverted and successfully used, the barrel 4 being stationary and the tube 15 being attached to the drill stein. In such arrangement, of course, the valves would be reversed relative to their illustrated positions, and the packer and locking device would have to be shifted to the opposite end of the a paratus.

Having thus descri d the invention, we claim:

1. A well-testing apparatus comprising an inner stationary barrel, a packer carried by the lower end of the barrel, a reciprocatory barrel encircling the stationary barrel, means at the lower end of the reciprocatory barrel for detachably coupling the same to the staand coo erating means within the reci rocatory arrel and at the upper end of the stationary barrel to transfer a sample formation from the stationary barrel to the reciprocatory barrel for transmission to the mouth of the well, said means normally cutting off flow from the stationary barrel to the reciprocatory barrel.

2. A well-testing apparatus comprising a stationary barrel, a tu ular head at the upper end of said barrel having a central valve seat 3 and by-passes around said seat, a valve mounted in said head and adapted to enga e said seat, means within the head yieldably pressing the valve toward the seat, a recip- 5 rocatory barrel encircling the stationary barrel, and atube carried within the reciprocatory barrel above said head and having its lower nd adapted to enter the head and engage the valve therein.

9 i 3. In a well-testing! apparatus, a stationary m in the stationary barrel and engage the valve therein. i I

4. In awell-testing apparatus, a stationary working barrel, a coupling sleeve carried by the lower end of said barrel, a packer carried a by said sleeve,- a reciproc'atory barrel encircling said stationary barrel, means at the 11pper end of the stationary barrel whereby flow therefrom is normallv prevented, means carried by'the reciprocatory barrel to release said means and prevent flow to the reciprocatory barrel, a sleeve carried by the lower end of the reciprocatory barrel, packing within said sleeve around the lower end of as the stationary barrel, and a coupling sleeve' encircling and engaged with the first-mentioned coupling sleeve and having detachably threaded connection with the sleeve carried by the lower end of the reciprocatory barrel.

5. A. well-testing apparatus comprising a stationary barrel, a packer, a coupling sleeve connecting the packer with the lower end of the barrel, a second coupling sleeve engaged with and extending above the first coupling sleeve, means resting on the packer for yieldably holding the second coupling sleeve raised on the first coupling sleeve, a reciprocatory barrel encircling the first-mentioned barrel and detach-ably engaged in the upper end of thesecond-mentionedcouplingsleeve,packing carried by the lower endof the reciprocatory barrel around the stationary barrel, normally closed means at the upper end of the stationary barrel whereby a sample formation may be transferred to the reciprocatory barrel, and means carried by the reciprocatory barrel for opening said means. a

6. .A well-testing apparatus comprising a stationary barrel, a coupling sleeve fitted on the lower end thereof, rolling elements resting on the upper edge of said sleeve, a collar resting on said elements, a coupling sleeve circling the first-mentioned coupling sleeve and. housing said ring, a packer carried by the first-mentioned coupling sleeve, means 55 resting on the packer for yieldably supporting the first-mentioned couplin sleeve, a reciprocator barrel encircling the stationary barrel an having its lower end 'detachably engaged with the second-mentioned coupling sleeve and adapted to abut said collar whereby it will be held against relative endwise movement, and means at the upper end of the stationary barrel whereby a sample formation may be transferred to the reciprocatory barrel when the latter is reciprocated.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

SAMUEL ROH'E. L. s.] SHELAH V. PUG [1,. s.] 

